1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stacked capacitor capable of reducing equivalent series inductance (ESL).
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, power sources have supplied lower voltages to central processing units (CPUs) provided in digital electronic equipment in order to reduce power consumption. On the other hand, as the operating frequency of today's CPUs continue to increase, it has become necessary to supply larger load currents to the CPU.
When current flows the wire in the CPU, voltage drop is caused by inductance of the wire. If the load current changes abruptly, larger voltage drop is caused. If the power source applies a low voltage to the CPU, it is impossible to ignore the voltage drop since slight changes in the voltage can lead to CPU's malfunctions. Therefore, the importance of stabilizing the voltage increases.
A stacked capacitor called a decoupling capacitor is connected to the power source in the CPU for stabilizing the power source. When rapid transient changes in the load current occur, current is supplied to the CPU from the stacked capacitor through rapid charging and discharging of the capacitor, thereby suppressing voltage changes in the power supply.
However, the decoupling capacitor has an equivalent series inductance (ESL). The voltage change ΔV is expressed by ΔV=ESL×di/dt (the di/dt expresses the change in current). On the other hand, as the operating frequency in today's CPUs continues to improve, the change in current di/dt is larger and occurs more rapidly. Therefore, the ESL of the decoupling capacitor itself greatly affects voltage changes since the change in current di/dt is large. Since voltage change in the power source can be suppressed by reducing this ESL, various forms of stacked capacitors capable of reducing ESL have been proposed.
Generally a stacked capacitor is constructed of a dielectric member having sheet-like dielectric layers stacked alternately with internal electrodes having a surface area smaller than that of the dielectric layers. An extraction electrode leads from the internal electrode to the outer surface of the dielectric member. When current is supplied to the internal electrodes through the extraction electrodes, the ESL is generated by the current flowing through the internal electrodes.
In a conventional stacked capacitor disclosed in Japanese patent application publication No. 2000-208361, for example, the paths through which current flows are shortened by increasing the width of the extraction electrodes, while decreasing the gaps therebetween. Shortening the current paths reduces magnetic flux generated by the current, which results in less ESL.
Another stacked capacitor disclosed in Japanese patent application publication No. 2001-185441 attempts to reduce ESL by optimizing the ratio of a length L and a width W of the extraction electrodes. In another conventional stacked capacitor disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application publication No. 2001-284171, ESL is reduced by providing adjacent extraction electrodes with opposite polarities so that magnetic flux generated in adjacent extraction electrodes cancels out each other due to current flowing therethrough.